Town of Rosendale, NY Design Standards

Where a watercourse separates a proposed street from abutting property, provision shall be made for access to all lots by means of culverts or other structures of design approved by the Town Engineer.

Where a subdivision is traversed by a watercourse, drainageway, channel or stream, there shall be provided a stormwater easement or drainage right-of-way as required by the Town Engineer, conforming substantially to the line of such width as will be adequate to preserve natural drainage, but in no case less than 20 feet in width. Such easements shall be maintained by the owners of the properties traversed by the easement.

The costs for all reviews of drainage and engineering studies by the Town Engineer shall be borne by the project applicant.

Required state permits. Any subdivider proposing to disturb or alter any state-designated protected stream as established pursuant to Article 15 of the Environmental Conservation Law, or proposing to disturb or alter any state designated wetland and buffer area as established pursuant to Article 24 of the Environmental Conservation Law, must obtain the appropriate permits from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, as required for such disturbance or alteration activities as specified in Parts 608 and 663 through 665 of the New York Code of Rules and Regulations.

Removal of spring and surface water The subdivider may be required by the Planning Board to carry away by pipe or open ditch any spring or surface water that may exist either previous to or as a result of the subdivision. Such drainage facilities shall be located in the street right-of-way where feasible or in perpetual unobstructed easements of appropriate width maintained by the owners of the properties traversed by the easement.

Drainage structures to accommodate potential development upstream. A culvert or other drainage facility shall be suitably sized to accommodate potential runoff from its entire upstream drainage area, whether inside or outside the subdivision. The Town Engineer shall approve the design and size of this facility based on anticipated runoff.

Responsibility from drainage downstream. The subdivider's engineer shall study the effect of the proposed plat on the existing downstream drainage facilities outside the area of the subdivision. This study shall be reviewed by the Town Engineer. Where it is anticipated that the additional runoff incident to the development of the subdivision will overload an existing downstream drainage facility, the Planning Board shall notify the Town Board of such potential condition. In such case, the Planning Board shall not approve the subdivision until provisions have been made for the improvement of said condition.

Stormwater runoff. The subdivider may provide, or may be required by the Planning Board to provide, stormwater runoff control techniques and measures, such as but not limited to retention basins and ponds, and materials used to line drainage channels. Such stormwater control facilities shall be located in perpetual unobstructed easements of appropriate length and width maintained by the owners of the properties traversed by the easement.

Land subject to flooding. Land subject to flooding or land deemed by the Planning Board to be uninhabitable shall not be platted for residential occupancy, nor for such other uses as may increase danger to health, life or property or aggravate the flood hazard, but such land within the plat shall be set aside for such uses as shall not be endangered by periodic or occasional inundation or improved in a manner satisfactory to the Planning Board to remedy said hazardous condition.

§ 60-28 Parks, playgrounds and public open spaces.

Recreation standards. The Planning Board shall require that land be reserved for parks and playgrounds or other recreation purposes in locations designated on the Town Development Plan or otherwise where such reservations would be appropriate except as provided in Subsection D below. Each reservation shall be of suitable size, dimension, topography and general character and shall have adequate road access for the particular purposes envisioned by the Planning Board. The area shall be shown and marked on the plat, "Reserved for Park and/or Recreation Purposes." When recreation areas are required, the Planning Board shall determine the number of acres to be reserved for such purposes in an amount not to exceed 10% of the gross area of the property to be subdivided.

Minimum size of park and playground reservations. In general, land reserved for recreation purposes shall have an area of at least one acre. When the size of the property would create less than one acre, the Board may require that the recreation area be located at a suitable place on the edge of the subdivision so that additional land may be added at such time as the adjacent land is subdivided. In no case shall an area of less than 1/2 acre be reserved for recreation purposes if it will be impractical or impossible to secure additional lands in order to increase its area. Where recreation land in any subdivision is not reserved, or the land to be reserved is less than 1/2 acre, the provisions of Subsection D below shall be applicable.

Recreation sites. Land reserved for recreation purposes shall be of a character and location suitable for use as a playground or playfield or for other recreation purposes and shall be improved by the developer to the standards required by the Planning Board, which improvements shall be included in the performance bond. The Planning Board may refer any subdivision proposed to contain a dedicated park to the local government official or department in charge of parks and recreation for a recommendation. All land to be reserved for dedication to the local government for park purposes shall have prior approval of the Town Board and shall be shown marked on the plat, "Reserved for Park and/or Recreation Purposes."

Alternative procedure: money in lieu of land. Where, with respect to a particular subdivision, the reservation of land required pursuant to this section does not equal the area required to be reserved or where the Planning Board finds that land suitable or appropriate for recreation purposes cannot properly be located in the plat, the Planning Board shall require, prior to final approval of the subdivision plat, that the applicant deposit with the Town Board a cash payment in lieu of land reservation. Such deposit shall be placed in a park and recreation improvement fund to be established by the Town Board and shall be used for improvement of a neighborhood park, playground or recreation area, including the acquisition of property. The amount of such deposit shall be in accord with a schedule for such payments determined by the Town Board.

§ 60-29 Streets.

General objectives. Streets shall be of sufficient width, suitably graded and located and adequately constructed to accommodate the prospective traffic and to afford adequate light and air, to facilitate fire protection and to provide access for fire fighting, snow removal and other road maintenance equipment and shall be coordinated so as to compose a convenient system properly related to the proposals shown on the development plan. The arrangement of streets shall be such as to cause no undue hardship to adjoining properties, and no property shall be rendered inaccessible from an existing public street or from a proposed street in a subdivision for which a completion bond has been posted.

Arrangement. The arrangement of streets in the subdivision shall provide for the entrance and continuation of principal streets from adjoining subdivisions and for the extension of principal streets into adjoining land which has not yet been subdivided. Such arrangement shall be required in order to facilitate fire protection, movement of traffic and the construction or extension, currently or as needed in the future, of necessary utilities and public services, such as sewers, water and drainage facilities.

Drains, culverts and ditches. All drains, culverts, ditches and other necessary street drainage improvements required by the Planning Board shall provide adequate drainage of all roads and other public lands, shall conform to the Town specifications and shall be acceptable to the Superintendent of Highways. The installation of these improvements shall be at the expense of the subdivider.

Arterial streets. Where the proposed subdivision contains or is adjacent to an existing or proposed arterial street, the Planning Board may require service streets, dead-end streets, reverse-frontage lots, screen planting and other treatment to protect adjacent properties, to separate arterial and local traffic and to create lots suitable for the appropriate use of the land between the streets and the right-of-way of the arterial street.

Minor streets. Minor streets shall be laid out in a manner to discourage their use by through traffic. Minor and collector street openings onto any arterial street shall normally be at least 800 feet apart, if possible.

Street connections. Subdivisions containing 50 lots or more shall have at least two connections with existing streets.

Standards for street design.

	Minor Street	Collector Street
Minimum right-of-way width	50 feet	60 feet
Minimum pavement width	24 feet	30 feet
Minimum radius of horizontal curves	150 feet	250 feet
Minimum length of vertical curves	100 feet, but not less than 20 feet for each 1% algebraic difference of grade	200 feet, but not less than 30 feet for each 1% algebraic difference of grade
Minimum length of tangents between reverse curves	100 feet, except where excessive grades may be reduced to reasonable grades by shortening tangen	200 feet
Maximum grade	12%	8%
Minimum grade	1/2 of 1%	1/2 of 1%
Minimum site distance	150 feet	250 feet

Widening or realignment of existing streets.

Where a subdivision borders an existing street and the Official Map or Master Plan indicates plans for realignment or widening of the street that would require reservation of some land of the subdivision, the Planning Board may require that such areas be shown and marked on the plat "Reserved for Street Realignment (or Widening) Purposes."

Where a development abuts an existing road and future widening may be required, the Planning Board may require that the subdivider dedicate additional right-of-way equal to 1/2 the additional required right-of-way width to meet the requirements of Subsection B above, if the subdivision abuts one side of the street, and the additional required right-of-way width to meet the requirements of Subsection G above, if the subdivision abuts both sides of the street.

Street intersections.

The intersection of streets shall be at angles of approximately 90º, but in no case shall two streets intersect any angle smaller than 60º. To achieve this, an oblique street should be curved when approaching an intersection. Cross (four-cornered) street intersections shall be avoided insofar as possible, except at important traffic intersections. All corners of pavement at street intersections shall be rounded by curves of at least 25 feet in radius.

On a corner lot in any residence district, no fence, wall, hedge, structure or planting more than 2 1/2 feet in height shall be erected, placed or maintained within the triangular area formed by the intersecting pavement lines, or their projections where corners are rounded, and a straight line joining the pavement lines at points 50 feet distance from their point of intersection. Land at the corners of intersecting streets shall be graded so as not to exceed in elevation, at any point, the surface of an imaginary triangular plane established as follows:

(a)

The apex shall be at a point 2 1/2 feet above the intersection of the street center lines.

(b)

The other two corners shall be a vertical distance of 2 1/2 feet above points 100 feet from the apex along the center line of the intersecting streets.

Street jogs. Street jogs with center-line offsets of less than 150 feet shall not be permitted.

Dead-end streets. No streets which are designed as permanent dead ends shall be permitted. The Planning Board may require that a temporary circular turnaround of a minimum of 50 feet in radius be provided on temporary dead-end streets, with the notation on the plat that the land outside the street right-of-way shall revert to abutting property owners whenever the street is continued.

Cul-de-sac. Culs-de-sac shall not exceed 750 feet in length or six times the minimum lot width for the zoning district in which located, whichever is greater, measured from the center line of the continuous street providing the only access to the cul-de-sac, along the center line of the cul-de-sac to the center of the turnaround or if the cul-de-sac has several branches, to the center of the farthest turnaround. The cul-de-sac shall terminate in a circular turnaround having a minimum radius of 45 feet for the outside curb at the closed end and minimum right-of-way radius of 60 feet.

Easements in cul-de-sac. Where needed or desirable, the Planning Board may require the reservation of a twenty-foot-wide easement at the end of culs-de-sac to provide for continuation of pedestrian traffic and utilities into the next streets.

Street names.

Type of street name. All street names shown on a preliminary plat or subdivision plat shall be approved by the Planning Board. In general, the streets shall have names and not numbers or letters. The developer shall pay for the cost of approved street signs and sign posts. All approved street signs shall be to the specifications established by the Town Highway Superintendent.

Street names to be substantially different. Proposed street names shall be substantially different so as not to be confused in sound or spelling with the present names, except that streets that join or are in alignment with streets of any abutting or neighboring property shall bear the same name. Generally, no street should change direction by more than 90º without a change in street name.

County review. All proposed street names shall, prior to final plat approval, be referred to the Ulster County Real Property Tax Service Agency, which shall indicate in writing its approval or disapproval of the proposed road name.

(4)

The Planning Board may also request that the subdivider refer all proposed street names to the local post office(s) having delivery jurisdiction over the area in which the proposed subdivision is located.

Clearing, grading, subbase and paving. All plans shall conform to the Town minimum road specifications and shall be subject to approval by the Town Engineer.

Street trees. Trees shall be planted on both sides of a street, in locations approved by the Planning Board, except where unnecessary because of existing tree growth or undesirable because of special circumstances. They shall generally:

Be located near the property line and be spaced approximately 50 feet apart, subject to variations made necessary by driveways and street corners as well as by the species of trees planted.

Have a caliper of two inches or larger, measured at a height of at least six inches above the ground level, and shall have a minimum height of 12 feet from the ground level. The species of trees shall be approved by the Planning Board.

Electric utility and communications distribution wires and facilities. Nothing contained herein shall automatically require the undergrounding of electric and telephone, cable television and other communication distribution facilities such as poles and wires. However, the Planning Board shall discuss with the subdivider the economic feasibility of placing such utilities underground.

Underground utilities. Underground electric and communications facilities, where proposed, must be located as provided for in § 60-32.

Aboveground or overhead utilities. Utility poles shall be set in such a location that they will normally be in back of the curbline and between the curbline and the theoretical sidewalk line. Where overhead utility wires are to exist, trees of a type that will grow to a limited height and not interfere with the wiring shall be used.

Any deviation from any of the above-specified engineering and construction requirements can only be made by a written release from the Town Superintendent of Highways, such release to accompany the owner's petition for the acceptance of the proposed Town highway.

Private streets.

Any proposed private street, as defined in these regulations, which is intended to serve five or more proposed lots, shall be constructed and improved to the design standards set forth in § 60-29G above, and to the road construction standards as adopted by the Rosendale Town Highway Department. The type of finished travel surface is not required to be pavement or concrete, but shall be a dustless surface suitable for access under normal weather conditions at any time of the year.

The Planning Board may request that all proposed private streets be reviewed by the local fire district officials, other emergency service providers and the Town Highway Superintendent in order to assist in the Board's determination of type of road design, construction and finished travel surface necessary to provide adequate safe access on the private street.

Road maintenance agreement (RMA) for private roads. As a condition to the approval of a private road, the Planning Board shall require the applicant to submit to the Planning Board for its approval a road maintenance agreement. Such agreement shall provide for the sharing of the obligation and cost of the repair and maintenance of the proposed road to be executed by the owners of all lots or parcels to which access is obtained by use of said road. Said agreement shall run with the land and be binding on the owners, their successors, distributees and assigns. The Planning Board shall refer the RMA to the Town Attorney, and may also refer the RMA to the New York State Attorney General's office, for the review of the scope and content of the agreement. The RMA shall be recorded in the office of the County Clerk simultaneously with the filing of the approved subdivision plat. A performance guaranty to ensure maintenance of the road, or establishment of a maintenance fund, may be required as per § 60-23.

§ 60-30 Pedestrianways.

Sidewalks on collector streets. All streets designated as "collector streets" shall have a sidewalk at least four feet wide on both sides of the street, except that, at the discretion of the Planning Board, one or both sidewalks may be eliminated. All such sidewalks shall be so placed that there will be a distance of at least three feet between the sidewalks and the street paving or 2 1/2 feet between the sidewalk and curb and a distance of at least three feet between the outer edge of the sidewalk and the right-of-way line. Planting of street trees will be permitted in the space between the sidewalk and the right-of-way line only.

Sidewalks on minor streets. All minor streets shall be provided with sidewalks on both sides of the street, except that, at the discretion of the Planning Board, one or both sidewalks may be eliminated. The size and location of such sidewalks shall be the same as for collector streets.

§ 60-31 Lots and blocks.

Lot layout. Lots shall be laid out and arranged to avoid any foreseeable difficulties by reason of unusual topography or other natural conditions and to permit construction of buildings in full compliance with Chapter 75, Zoning.

Deep lots. Lots shall not be of unreasonable depth, thus encouraging the later creation of a second building lot at the rear, but if such depth is unavoidable, provision should be made wherever possible in the layout of the subdivision for streets which may be added later, through resubdivision, to serve the development of the rears of deep lots.

Corner lots. Corner lots shall be of sufficient dimensions so that any structure placed thereon shall conform to the building setback line and side yard requirement of the zoning district in which the lot is located and generally should be of increased size.

Double-frontage lots. Double-frontage lots shall be avoided, except where necessary to separate residential areas from major traffic arteries or other incompatible use. In such cases a planting screen easement at least 10 feet wide providing no right of access to the lot shall extend along the lot line abutting the traffic artery right-of-way or incompatible use.

Minimum lot size and density.

Each lot shall meet the minimum area, width and depth requirements as established by Chapter 75, Zoning.

In the event that a sketch plat proposes the creation of one or more lots which will not comply with the minimum lot size or other bulk regulations set forth in Chapter 75, Zoning, the subdivider may apply to the Rosendale Zoning Board of Appeals for an area variance, pursuant to § 75-44 of the Rosendale Town Code, without the necessity of a decision or determination of the Building Inspector. In reviewing such a request the Zoning Board of Appeals shall request that the Planning Board provide a written recommendation concerning the proposed variance. Any area variance so granted shall be considered by the Planning Board as completing the sketch plan review process.

Side yard lines. All side yard lines of lots shall be approximately at right angles to straight street lines and radial or nearly radial to curved street lines.

Driveways.

Wherever possible, lots shall be laid out so that intended driveways have access to a street which is to carry the least traffic.

All proposed driveway access points onto existing public streets must be approved by the agency having jurisdiction over said public street, be it the Town of Rosendale Highway Department, the Ulster County Department of Public Works, or New York State Department of Transportation.